Friends

Books

ABSTRACT: In the first book to focus on the traumatic effects caused by cliques in our schools, an acclaimed parenting-advice team offers a fresh perspective and an innovative eight-step program to turn around the culture of cruelty that torments all students. There have always been "in crowds," but today's social pressures force children into explosive, destructive, and even life-threatening situations. No matter what role your child plays in this schoolhouse drama--clique leader, victim, or innocent bystander--this book is a must-read. Giannetti and Sagarese have honed in on this little-understood phenomenon and come up with insights that parents can use immediately.

ABSTRACT: This book brings together a diverse group of experts from various disciplines to address a serious gap in the understanding of adolescent development. Part I focuses on romantic relations and sexual behavior from the perspective of normative adolescent development. Part II centers on high-risk adolescents and Part III explores the practical implications of current theory and research for clinicians, educators, and health administrators. Together the chapters in this integrative and clinically useful book lay a foundation for understanding how adolescents successfully navigate the tumultuous waters of young love.

ABSTRACT: Examines adolescent romantic relationships. This volume covers the full range of aspects of romantic relationships and examines general processes and individual differences within the general context of adolescent development.

ABSTRACT: (from the preface) This volume honors Willard W. Hartup's legacy by advancing the conceptual underpinnings of research on relationships in developmental perspective and presenting new research findings that advance knowledge in that area.

Journal Articles

ABSTRACT: Our research program has focused on middle school and high school adolescents' social networks and more recently on adolescents' romantic relationships. The adolescents in our studies have taught us a number of lessons about studying personal relationships. We use examples from our research to illustrate these lessons and discuss their implications for studying adult, as well as adolescent, relationships. In particular, adolescents have taught us to recognize the multileveled nature of networks and to distinguish among the interactional, dyadic relationship, group and overall levels of networks. The diversity of adolescent relationships presents researchers with the methodological and conceptual challenge of identifying and taking into account the similarities and differences among relationships. Research with adolescents also makes one appreciate the developmental transformations that relationships undergo. We describe changes in the absolute level and relative level of characteristics, the stability and centrality of characteristics, and their structure. We discuss implications of the idea that development occurs at the individual level, and distinguish between developmental trajectories and the timing of such trajectories.

ABSTRACT: The long-term consequences of early adolescents' orientation toward peers for their adjustment during high school were assessed. Approximately 1,200 adolescents completed questionnaires in the 7th grade and in the 10th or 12th grades; course grades were also obtained from the students' school records. Early adolescents who were willing to sacrifice their talents, school performance, and parents' rules engaged in greater problem behavior and evidenced lower academic achievement than did other adolescents during high school. The poorer adjustment of adolescents with this extreme orientation toward peers was mediated by their reported involvement in deviant peer groups. In contrast, a tendency to seek advice from peers more than from parents during early adolescence had little implication for later adjustment. Discussion focuses on the need to consider the role of peer dependence along with the effects of supportive friendships during adolescence.

ABSTRACT: The reciprocal relation between deviant friendships and substance use was examined from early adolescence (age 13-14) to young adulthood (age 22-23). Deviance within friendships was studied using direct observations of videotaped friendship interaction and global reports of deviant interactions with friends as well as time spent with friends. Substance use was assessed through youth self-report at all time points. Multivariate modeling revealed that substance use in young adulthood is a joint outcome of friendship influence and selection processes. In addition, substance use appears to influence the selection of friends in late adolescence. Findings suggest that effective preventions should target peer ecologies conducive to substance use and that treatment should address both the interpersonal underpinnings and addiction processes intrinsic to chronic use, dependence, and abuse.

ABSTRACT: The long-term consequences of early adolescents' orientation toward peers for their adjustment during high school were assessed. Approximately 1,200 adolescents completed questionnaires in the 7th grade and in the 10th or 12th grades; course grades were also obtained from the students' school records. Early adolescents who were willing to sacrifice their talents, school performance, and parents' rules engaged in greater problem behavior and evidenced lower academic achievement than did other adolescents during high school. The poorer adjustment of adolescents with this extreme orientation toward peers was mediated by their reported involvement in deviant peer groups. In contrast, a tendency to seek advice from peers more than from parents during early adolescence had little implication for later adjustment. Discussion focuses on the need to consider the role of peer dependence along with the effects of supportive friendships during adolescence.